Roy makes triumphant return to Boston

Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy has the Avs off to
a 4-0 start in his first year as head coach. (Getty Images)

BOSTON – His is one of those names that New England sports
fans speak with an even combination of respect and deep-seated
disdain.

Patrick Roy.

In these parts, the name conjures memories of those nights in
the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it seemed like a
stick of dynamite couldn’t bring down the wall the Quebecois
netminder built in front of the Canadiens’ nets. The
Boston-Montreal rivalry has many characters and chapters, but
arguably none have been more indelible than that era, and No. 33
between the pipes. The Bruins had his number about as often as he
had theirs, but Roy came away from that period with Stanley Cup
rings and Conn Smythe trophies in 1986 and 1993, as well as Vezina
trophies in 1989, 1990 and 1992.

Roy even earned a small bit of affection when he helped Ray
Bourque finally win the Cup with Colorado in 2001, the old foes
incongruously celebrating together even as Boston was in the midst
of a decades-long drought.

Over his two decades in the NHL, Roy earned a reputation as one
of the finest goalies ever to play the game, as well as one of the
most tempestuous personalities to ever take the ice.

There was the Dec. 2, 1995, game, when Roy told Canadiens
president Ronald Corey “It’s my last game in
Montreal” after he was left in for nine goals, leading to his
exile. There was the back-and-forth with Jeremy Roenick during the
next year’s Western Conference semifinals, when
Roenick’s needling sparked one of Roy’s best quotes:
“I can’t really hear what Jeremy says, because
I’ve got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my
ears.”

Much more recently, there was Opening Night 2013, when Roy got
into it first with the Anaheim players, and then with coach Bruce
Boudreau, nearly toppling the glass partition between the benches
during their furious argument – proof that you can take the
fiery goalie out of the net, but you can’t extinguish the
flame.

Thursday night, Roy made his first return to Boston in an
official capacity since Feb. 4, 2003, when he made 28 saves in a
3-2 Avalanche victory. After his retirement following that season,
Roy became the vice president of hockey operations for the Quebec
Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, eventually
becoming owner, general manager and head coach. He continued his
controversial ways with the Remparts, but also found early success,
winning the 2006 Memorial Cup in his first year behind the
bench.

That led to this year, when Roy was named the new head coach in
Colorado after Boston University alum Joe Sacco (Medford, Mass.)
was let go following an ugly 2013 season. And that brought him back
to Boston for the first time in a decade Thursday night.

Roy said he was excited to be back.

“Always. I mean, it’s a great hockey town. The
people here, they love their hockey and they’re right behind
their Bruins. It’s a beautiful town and it’s fun to be
here.”

This much is clear: The new coach is doing something right. The
Avalanche are undefeated in their first four games under the Roy
regime, including Thursday night’s thorough 2-0 win over the
Bruins. After four mediocre years under Sacco, during which the Avs
went a combined 130-134-30, and missed the playoffs the last three
seasons, there’s a lot of hope in Colorado – and, based
on the atmosphere in Colorado’s locker room after
Thursday’s win, a lot more excitement.

“The whole mentality is changing, our whole
attitude,” said goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who made
his first start of the season Thursday night. “We seem to
believe in ourselves a little bit more. It’s just a different
voice and guys seem to be responding well to it right
now.”

The choice to go with Giguere against the Bruins instead of
ostensible No. 1 Semyon Varlamov seemed curious before the puck
dropped Thursday night. In five career games against Boston,
Giguere hasn’t fared terribly well, with a 2-2-1 record, .883
save percentage and 3.18 GAA. Yet a few hours later, Roy looked
like a goaltending genius again, as Giguere turned in a 39-save
shutout.

“It’s great,” Giguere said of having a hall of
fame goaltender for a head coach. “I always say the less
interaction I have with him the better, but he’s been awesome
– you want him to be working with the forwards and defensemen
– but he’s been great, a couple tips here and there to
the goalies, it’s been a good adjustment.”

Certainly, the Avalanche will lose a game eventually. But right
now, after several years adrift, Roy has the Avs riding high and
savoring an unlikely victory over a Cup contender in the Bruins.
And it wasn’t just Giguere’s steady goaltending –
the Avalanche showed a lot of jump in the first period, taking
advantage of a Boston team that was noticeably sluggish after a
four-day layoff between games. Ryan O’Reilly’s power
play goal late in the first period was all Giguere needed, but Matt
Duchene added an empty-netter for good measure, too.

There are 78 games left in the season. It’s way too early
to judge Patrick Roy, the coach. But so far, his results are
awfully reminiscent of Patrick Roy, the goalie.

“I mean, I’m sure a lot of people are surprised by
our start,” Roy said. “It’s good for our
confidence. I’ve been asking the guys to work really hard,
and I’ve been asking some details of the game that I think
are important.”

Just as Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter are now begrudgingly
revered by Red Sox fans, it’d be hard for any honest Bruin
die-hard to deny a certain appreciation for Roy, and Thursday
night’s loss showed one thing: Boston’s love-hate
affair with Patrick Roy isn’t over.